Various containers have been used in the electronics industry to transport semiconductor wafers. Semiconductor wafers are generally very thin and fragile disks made from silicon. The fragile nature and high value of semiconductor wafers requires a very reliable means for storing and transporting them within a container.
A continued trend in the electronics industry is an increase in size, and decrease in thickness, of the wafers. As the size and surface area increase, and the thickness decreases, new techniques must be found to protect semiconductor wafers from damage.
Sources of damage to semiconductor wafers during storage and shipping include, but are not limited to, vibration, abrasion, impacts, particulation, static electricity, and outgassing.
During the manufacturing process, it is often necessary to move wafers from a first manufacturing facility to a second manufacturing facility for further processing. This requires that the wafers be removed from the first production assembly, then packaged and moved or shipped to the second facility, where they are unloaded for further processing.
To prevent damage to the wafer, or contamination of, the surface of the wafer, wafers are often handled by the edges Consequently, many known semiconductor wafer containers are configured to store wafers in stacked cassettes supporting the wafers only at the edges.
The use of rigid supports on the wafer's edges is not sufficiently effective in protecting larger, more delicate wafers during shipping. Furthermore, many existing shipping containers have not been well adapted for handling by automated machinery, thus requiring manual intervention at various stages of the loading and unloading process. Every step requiring manual handling of the wafers increases contamination problems. In the manufacture of semiconductor wafers, there is an inverse relationship between chip yield and particle contamination.
What is needed are Containers that fully support the entire surface of semiconductor wafers, are configured for automated handling machines, provide protection against particle contamination and static discharge damage, and are produced from materials that limit problems that may arise from outgassing. What is further needed is a shock absorbing apparatus and method of packaging that are compatible with newly developed containers and wafer sizes, and that protect against vibration, abrasion, impacts, particulation, static electricity, and outgassing.